Candidates let their records speak

The two candidates for 41st District Judge of
the Court of Common Pleas (Perry and Juniata counties) are taking the
high road and focusing on their experience and qualifications as they
put themselves before the voters for the May 17 primary election.

The candidates, both of whom have served
as president of the Perry County Bar Association, have cross-filed and
will appear on the Democratic and Republican ballots, creating a
possible scenario of having them square off against each other again in
the Nov. 8 general election.

Judge Kathy “Kate” Morrow of Millerstown
wields the power of a nearly yearlong incumbency, having been appointed
by Gov. Ed Rendell in January of 2004 and confirmed by the Senate on
June 30, 2004 to fill the vacancy created by Keith B. Quigley’s
retirement.

She cites that experience on the bench and
the people-oriented nature of her prior experience as an attorney as
principal among her qualifications to maintain her seat on the bench.

William R. Bunt of Elliottsburg, longtime
solicitor for Perry County, cites 30 years as an attorney in the county
seat and his service to various departments of county government among
his qualifications.

Since both candidates are eager to run on their records, here is a summary.

Education

Morrow is a 1976 graduate of Susquehanna
University, with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology. She graduated
with honors from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, La.,
with a juris doctorate degree in 1982.

Bunt is a 1972 graduate of Grove City
College with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. He received
a juris doctorate degree in 1975 from Dickinson Law School, Carlisle.

Personal

Bunt is married to Jacqueline M. Bunt, a
fourth-grade teacher in the West Perry School District. They have three
children, Barbara, 26, David, 24, and Betsy, 18.

Morrow is married to Lewis Morrow, a farmer and native of Perry County. They have three children, Ben, Annie and Hunter.

Work experience

Morrow has worked as an admission
counselor for Albright College (1976-1978), as a receptionist at the
Bank of Carbondale, Illinois, and as a law clerk with Stassi &
Rausch, insurance defense litigation and tax law, in New Orleans (1980)
and for Nat Keiffer, a Louisiana state senator whose practice included
representation of the civil sheriff of Orleans Parish (1981). On her
resume, she notes that while working for Keiffer she assisted on several
1983 civil rights cases pertaining to inmates in Orleans Parish Jail.

Bunt was an intern in the summer of 1973
in the District Attorney’s Office of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh. He
was a law clerk for former Perry County President Judge Charles W.
Kugler, 1974-1975.

On his resume, Bunt noted that since March
of 1976, “I have been self-employed as a sole proprietor. I employ two
secretaries and since 1996, one associate. My law practice consists of
both governmental clients and private clients. My private practice
presently consists primarily of practicing law in the fields of real
estate, wills and estate planning, all areas of family law and civil
litigation. I previously served as assistant public defender and
privately practiced criminal law.

On her resume, Morrow reports that from
1982 to 1986, she was an associate with Clann & Pearon, later Clann,
Bell & Murphy, a law firm in Houston, Texas, specializing in
maritime and admiralty law. From 1986-1989, Morrow was an associate at
Sewell & Riggs, another Houston law firm where she specialized in
admiralty law.

She and her husband moved to his native
Perry County in 1989 and she went into private practice in New
Bloomfield. On her resume, she describes her former practice:

“I focused mainly on real estate law, both
litigation and non-litigation, probate and estate, including trusts,
wills, powers of attorney, etc. I represented parents and grandparents
in custody cases. From 1991 until I took the bench in July 2004, I
represented children in custody cases and in 2001 began to act as
guardian ad litem/attorney for children in Children and Youth dependency
actions. For nine years I did criminal defense work for adults and
juveniles.”

Bunt notes the following solicitorships on
his resume: Perry County Board of Commissioners (since January of
1976); Perry County Children and Youth Services (since January of 1976);
Area Agency on Aging (since January of 1976); Perry County Prison Board
(since 1990). He also has served as a borough and township solicitor
and as an attorney for charitable and civic organizations. He currently
represents four fire companies, an ambulance league, a cemetery
association, one borough and four townships.

Morrow served as solicitor for Bloomfield
Borough Water Authority, Landisburg borough and Greenwood Twp., and for
zoning hearing boards in Liverpool and Wheatfield townships. She is a
past president of the Perry County Bar Association and a member of the
Pennsylvania and American Bar associations.

Community service

Morrow has served as director and
personnel committee chairman of MidPenn Legal Services and as president
of MidPenn and Central Pennsylvania Legal Services. She is a past
director of Stevens Center in Carlisle and a board member of the Perry
County Council of the Arts.

Bunt notes current or former memberships
in the Blain Lions Club, Bloomfield Cemetery Association, Centre
Presbyterian Church and Capitol Region Division of the American Heart
Association Board. He was a member of the West Perry School District
Drug Task Force, a legal adviser to the West Perry High School Mock
Trial Program, a volunteer with the Dickinson School of Law Moot Court
Program, and served a six-year term on the Presbytery Judicial Council.